


pitiful sapphics

by damagederudite



Category: Divergent - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anxiety Disorder, Bartender AU, Bisexual Evelyn Johnson-Eaton, Depression, F/F, Lesbian Jeanine Matthews, OCD, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:00:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29083521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/damagederudite/pseuds/damagederudite
Summary: Evelyn's boss has a slightly troublesome but highly charming daughter.
Relationships: Andrew Prior/Natalie Prior, Evelyn Johnson-Eaton/Jeanine Matthews, Marcus Eaton/Evelyn Johnson-Eaton
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

Jeanine wakes up to the sound of her phone ringing. She puts her hands over her face and groans. Her head feels awful. She reaches out for her phone, to make it stop making that awful loud noise rather than anything else really. She groans even louder this time when she sees who's name is on the screen. Dad. She presses decline and puts her head back under the covers, still somehow ignoring the weight of another body beside her and the fact that she is wearing absolutely no clothes. It’s become such a regular occurrence now that she doesn’t even really notice anymore. 

It doesn’t even take a minute for her phone to ring again. This time, she admits defeat. “What the fuck do you want? It’s,” Jeanine looks at the clock on the wall. “Nine in the morning.” 

“You’re chipper as ever.” Darren’s voice sounds on the other end of the phone. “Interesting night?” 

“Well it’s all very blurry but…” She looks over at the woman laying next to her. “Well yes actually I would say so.” 

Darren rolls his eyes, tapping his pen against his planner. He definitely knows what that means, he is well aware of his daughters habits. “I hope she doesn’t expect to meet the parents.” 

“Oh I am sure she doesn’t.” Jeanine takes her glasses off of her nightstand and awkwardly puts them on with one hand. She stands and grabs her dressing gown. Wrapping the material around herself, she walks into her kitchen. “Now, what do you want?” 

“To see you.” 

Jeanine scoffs but Darren stays dead silent. “Wait,” She downs a glass of water. “You are being serious?” 

“You are my daughter Jeanine, forgive me if I wish to see you every now and then.” Darren hasn’t seen his daughter for over a year now. She is away at university getting up to things a father really shouldn’t be a part of and he is busy at work. 

“Well yeah I do know I am your daughter believe it or not but that doesn’t mean we have to act like a perfect family.” Jeanine has no interest in seeing her father, she doesn’t want to and she doesn’t need to. He can stay as far away from her as possible as far as she is concerned. She doesn’t need him to see how much of a mess her life has become. 

“Please Jeanine? Just at least consider it. I miss you.” 

“Yeah well I totally miss you too.” Jeanine lies, walking back into her bedroom. The brunette is awake now. She gives Jeanine a small smile and Jeanine waves at her. “I just don’t think that we have to be up each other’s arses all the time.” 

“You are so impossible-” he goes to continue but he is stopped by Jeanine who is currently busy having eye sex with a woman that she doesn’t even know the name of. 

“Sorry Dad,” Jeanine lets herself be pulled closer by the other woman. “I really must be off.” 

“Jeanine!” The line goes dead. Darren throws his phone down on his desk in defeat and leans back in his chair. She is impossible. He can’t do anything right. Darren thinks for a moment. Does he really want to do this to his own daughter? She might never trust him again but, then again, she doesn't trust him anyway. He presses the button on the phone for Evelyn. “Please come in here.” 

Evelyn is within the glass walls of the office in less than a minute. She sits down at the chair in front of his desk as instructed to do. “What can I do for you Sir?” she asks.

Darren sighs. He leans forward on the table, his hands clasped together on the desk. “I need you to do something for me and you might not like it.” 

Evelyn arches an eyebrow. “Oh? What is it?”

“It’s about my daughter, Jeanine.” 

“You have a daughter?” Evelyn had absolutely no idea. Darren doesn’t bring her up - he doesn’t talk about family at work.

“Yes and she’s quite the handful.” 

“Why would you say that?” 

Darren pauses. He doesn’t want to violate Jeanine’s privacy but that’s what he is going to ask her to do anyway. “She’s troubled. Her mother’s death hit her hard all those years ago and she hasn’t been the same since.” he speaks slowly, as if every word is calculated. “Now she lives near the university she attends and doesn’t want to speak to me.” 

“It must have been hard for you both, losing her mother.” 

Darren nods as though he is unsure. “It was… She refuses to admit that it affected her but everything that she does is such overwhelming proof that it did.” 

“People deal with grief differently.” Evelyn says.

“Indeed they do.” Darren agrees.

“I’m sorry Sir but I’m still confused about what you are asking me to do.” 

“I need you to… check up on her.” he selects his words carefully. He doesn’t want to sound like an awful person. 

Despite this, Evelyn catches on immediately. “You want me to spy on her.” 

“No! No! That’s not-“ 

“Yes!” Evelyn cuts him off. “You want me to spy on her! Your own daughter!” Evelyn smirks and nestles further into her seat. “It’s despicable.” Darren goes to defend himself. “But,” she stops him. “I’m in.” For the right price, of course.

“Really?” Darren is completely shocked he felt sure that she would say no, especially with that reaction. 

“Yes. I’m assuming that there will be money involved?” Evelyn says. Darren nods. “Then I’m in.” 

-

Erin slides down next to Jeanine in class. She pulls her binder out of her bag and places it on her lap. “You okay?” she whispers.

“Hungover.” Jeanine whispers back.

“Hm. Normal for you then.” Erin grins

Jeanine shakes her head, smiling. She’s not wrong, being hungover is completely normal for her. It’s her way of getting through life. “Yes, normal for me. You?” 

Erin shrugs, opening her binder. “Stressed about the test tomorrow.” There is a test tomorrow and Jeanine doesn’t even care to remember what it’s on. She will ace it no matter what, she always does. “I don’t know how you do it.” Erin whispers.

“Do what?” Jeanine twirls her pen in her hand, not actually intending to take any notes.

“Do so well.” 

“I must be a genius.” 

“You definitely are.” Erin mutters. 

The professor begins to talk and Erin immediately starts to listen, soaking up everything he says. Jeanine is much less focussed. She doesn’t need this lecture. She could teach this lecture. She bites the end of her black pen, twirling it around in her mouth. She spots a girl looking at her from across the lecture hall and raises an eyebrow. The girl makes eye contact with her, smirking. She hitches her skirt up her thighs slightly and Jeanine’s eyes widen. 

The lecture ends two hours later and Erin runs off to study in the library. Jeanine, on the other hand, meets the blonde from the lecture outside the classroom. She walks up to her slowly but the other girl slams her against the wall quickly. 

“Lovely to meet you.” Jeanine mutters. 

“Likewise.” 

-

Jeanine picks her blazer up off of the floor and puts it back on. “You're intriguing.” she says, gazing at the girl across the room. 

The blonde’s head snaps up and her eyes meet Jeanine’s, a playful smirk playing on her lips. She stands, slipping her top back on. “Now why would you say that?” 

Jeanine shrugs. “It’s usually me that is the more scandalous one.” 

The girl approaches her and kisses her gently. “Was I too much for you?” 

Jeanine shakes her head, her hands slipping under the girl’s top. “Definitely not.” 

The girl smiles. “I’m Faith.” 

“Pleasure to meet you, I’m Jeanine.” 

“Oh I know.” Faith breathes against Jeanine’s neck. “You are the girl everyone can’t stand because you are top of the class by a lot and you do nothing but get drunk and high.” 

“I try not to listen to people talking about me.” Jeanine traces circles on Faith’s arm. “People can be very nasty.” 

Faith nods, finding herself oddly attracted to Jeanine’s attitude and not just her appearance. An odd occurrence for her. “People can.” She laces her fingers around the back of Jeanine’s neck.

They sit back down on Faith’s bed and talk for hours, the sexual chemistry thick enough to cut a knife with but neither actually intending to turn anything romantic. Friends with benefits: what they both do best.


	2. Chapter 2

Evelyn packs her suitcase, throwing everything in, not caring how messy it is. She has little need for order in her life, she prefers to live free. Ever since she got the courage to leave Marcus, she prefers to have absolutely no restrictions. He restricted her too much, he was toxic, this is her rebellion. 

She does the black suitcase up and grabs her handbag and phone before taking the lift down to the front of her apartment building. There is a car waiting for her, Darren sent his driver. 

He rolls his window down. “You Evelyn?” She nods. “Get in.” He winds the window back up.

Evelyn opens the boot and puts her suitcase in, slightly hesitant, before sliding into the car. She looks around, the leather is shiny and the whole car is clearly extremely expensive. “Do you know where you are going?” she asks.

Evelyn sees the driver nod in the rear view mirror. “Word of advice,” He starts the car up. “Tread carefully around Jeanine.” He turns the wheel. “She’s explosive.” 

“Explosive?” Evelyn asks.

“She’s intelligent, crazily intelligent, she can destroy you.” That’s all the driver says, deciding to leave it for Evelyn to find out. He isn’t fond of Jeanine and doesn’t wish to talk about her. She is too troublesome, causes him too much pain.

“I’ll make sure I am careful.” Evelyn pulls out her compact mirror and reapplies her bright pink lipstick. “Thank you.” She shuts the compact and puts it back into her bag. 

As the driver continues, she silently wonders who will be covering as Darren’s assistant. Probably that insufferable Marcy from the second floor. Evelyn rolls her eyes just thinking about her. Oh well, she needs the money. She will do this. 

The drive is long, almost five hours. When they arrive, it is getting dark and Evelyn has to turn the car light on to find the earphones that she accidentally dropped on the car floor. She steps out, grabs her suitcase and attempts to thank the driver but he just drives off. He isn’t willing to spend anymore time in Jeanine’s territory than necessary. You never know where she can be.

Evelyn looks up at the hotel Darren booked a room at and clutches her suitcase tightly. She takes a deep breath before entering the lobby. “Evelyn Johnson.” she says to the receptionist.

She is in her room within ten minutes. She throws the key card down on the table and places the spare one in the card section of her purse. She slips her shoes off and places her suitcase down on one of the twin beds. She zips it open and begins to unpack. 

When unpacked, she decides to just go to sleep. It’s already so late. She lays awake, staring up at the ceiling. She needs to sleep, by all accounts, the easiest way to find Jeanine will be at night. She thinks about what the driver says. Maybe Jeanine acts like this because she is too intelligent? Why spend all your time revising a subject that you find mind numbly easy? She turns over, wrapping the covers around herself tightly. She needs to sleep. 

-

Evelyn wakes up to the sound of the hotel supplied alarm blaring. She groans, reaching out to turn it off. It’s only 7am. She practically falls out of bed and crawls into her bathroom. She looks at herself in the mirror, spotting her messy hair and tired eyes. She tears her eyes away from the mirror and turns the shower on, getting her arm wet, before getting undressed and getting into the warm shower. 

She washes her hair, lathering the floral smelling shampoo in. She begins to think again. Jeanine is troublesome - that’s what her father says - but he is her dad. What does he really know about her? Parents always think that they know everything about their children when really they know absolutely nothing. Maybe Jeanine is fine. Is it really right for her to be doing this? She needs the money. 

She squirts chocolate scented body wash into her hands. 

The driver didn’t seem to be fond of her either but he didn’t seem to be fond of anyone. Or maybe it’s just Evelyn. He doesn’t like women perhaps? No, that’s jumping to conclusions. 

She turns the shower off and steps out, wrapping a plush towel around her wet body. She looks in the mirror again, this time to brush her hair with the brush she placed on the side the night before. She runs it through her wet hair, untangling it. 

As she dries her hair, thoughts of Marcus come back. Loud noise. She used to use it to drown his shouting out. 

She gets dressed into a light pink dress and walks back into the bathroom. She reaches for her makeup bag and selects what she needs to use for the day, laying it out on the sink counter. 

She rubs primer over her face, preparing to apply her makeup for the day. Makeup is something that Evelyn has recently found sanctuary in. Marcus never liked it. He liked his woman natural. Now, Evelyn enjoys applying bright shades to her face - pink mostly. 

Once her makeup is applied, pink sparkly eyeshadow and bright pink lipstick stand out. She exits the room, her curled hair bouncing behind her as she walks down the hallway, her flats making a light tapping noise as she walks. 

She reaches the lift and presses the down button. When the metal doors open, she walks in and stands next to a family of three. The woman gives her a small and Evelyn returns it. She gazes at the young child with some longing. She would love children. Her and Marcus spoke about it and they tried for a baby but it wasn’t meant to be. It’s for the best, she doesn’t need ties to him like that.

The lift opens and she walks out, almost knocking onto a busy man who looks as though he is on his way to a business meeting. She hears a tut as she continues walking but ignores it. That’s another thing she tries to do, block out all criticisms and negativity. She is her own person. 

She finds a small coffee shop and walks in, holding the door open for a group of young girls. They look no older than ten. Evelyn smiles a little, she remembers what that was like. Life before stress and responsibility. That was cut short for her, she was only sixteen when she embarked on her relationship with Marcus. She wonders if Jeanine’s childhood and adolescence was cut short too, maybe that’s why she can be so irresponsible now. 

She waits in line. It’s a short queue, only three other people. She is served quickly and she ensures to give the barrister a small tip. She can’t afford to give too much but every little helps, she knows that more than anyone. 

She takes the coffee from the young woman with a grateful smile and sits down at a table in a corner. She opens her phone, ignoring the gaze of a group of old men. She goes onto safari and types the name ‘Jeanine Matthews’ into the search bar. Countless papers come up, university work undoubtedly. She continues to scroll down until she finds an Instagram account. 

She clicks on the Instagram account link and allows it to open in the app. It’s a private account but there is a picture of her and a ginger haired woman in the profile picture. She looks at the picture that Darren sent her just to make sure. It’s definitely her. There’s no bio and her name is just a simple ‘Jeanine’ with nothing next to it, not even an emoji. 

Evelyn sighs and takes a sip of her coffee, there is nothing to be found there. She goes back to safari and continues to scroll down. There is a twitter account. It’s not private but has no content. She’s secretive, Evelyn will give her that. 

She sets her phone down on the table in defeat and downs her coffee. She puts her phone back in her bag and stands. In order to make the staffs’ lives at least slightly easier, she throws her recyclable cup away on the way out. 

University would be the one place that you would think that Evelyn is guaranteed to find her boss’ daughter but Evelyn is fully aware that it is the last place she will be. If she is there, she will be in a lecture or sitting an assessment, she will be somewhere Evelyn can’t get to. 

She doesn’t even have an address. Jeanine has refused to give her dad her address ever since she moved away. He has never seen her apartment and Jeanine intends to keep it that way. 

Evelyn goes back to the hotel, grabbing a cereal bar to eat for lunch from a local shop and eating it on the way back. She gives the receptionist a small smile and a wave and walks back up to her room. She pulls her laptop out of her suitcase after deciding to leave it in there last night and checks her emails.

Nothing.

She types in Darren’s email address and begins to compose an email. 

‘Good Morning Sir,   
I was wondering if you had any tips on how to locate Jeanine.  
Kind Regards,   
Evelyn Johnson.’ 

She hits send.

She waits for what feels like forever, scrolling through random tweets on her phone and laughing at the most ridiculous memes. One of Marcus’ friends pops up on her suggested accounts and she shuts the app down, shivering a little. She looks back at her laptop and sees that she still has nothing, flopping back onto the big pillows at the top end of her bed in defeat. She lets out an exasperated groan and kicks her laptop lightly with her feet. 

This is going to be a long task.

-

Jeanine wakes up at eight, her head pounding. It’s not alcohol for once but shear stress. Her mind feels as though it is full of a thousand thoughts. She took so long to get to sleep last night she tried several different methods, even hoping that a sudden wave of endorphins would help. It made her sleepy, but not quite sleepy enough and it just left her horny. Not ideal. 

She tries to get her phone off of the nightstand but ends up falling out of bend, landing with a loud thud. She groans, reaching up to take her phone off charge. She takes her glasses off the nightstand and puts them on, ignoring how dirty they are. She turns onto her back and unlocks her phone. There are messages from her father but she chooses to ignore them. 

She sees the messages from Erin. They are panicked and frantic. That’s when Jeanine remembers the test today. Unbothered for herself but concerned for Erin, she gives her a text of encouragement and promises that, if she fails this test, she will tutor her. She will pass, she always does. 

She spends almost ten minutes more on her phone before deciding to try and get up. She winces, her back aching. She walks into the bathroom, using the blue wall to help support her. 

She sighs when she looks at the shower. She hasn’t showered in almost a week now and she really should. She just hasn't been able to bring herself to. She looks at the orange pot in the open bathroom cabinet and admits defeat. She takes the pills, it was stupid to try and come off of them. 

She turns the shower on and realises how much she missed the feeling of hot water against her naked skin when she gets in. That’s the thing with showering and depression: you can’t bring yourself to get in but, once you're in, you can’t bring yourself to get back out either. 

She stays in there for as long as she can until she remembers her water bill. She can’t afford a high bill. Darren has offered to help her financially but she refuses, instead working at a bar downtown at the weekends. 

She gets out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her, her hair dripping onto her pale shoulders. She doesn’t want to dry her hair, she can’t be bothered, but she also doesn’t really have a choice. It’s too short to put up in any sort of style that doesn’t look ridiculous and it’s too windy outside today to leave the house with wet hair. She’ll catch a cold. 

She dries her hair but does nothing else with it before getting changed into black trousers and a light blue blouse. She gets a hoodie off of the hanger and slips it on, not caring what anyone thinks of how she looks. She is going to finish this test so quickly and be deathly bored, the least she deserves is to be bored and comfortable. 

She walks over to her makeup bag on the chest of drawers and picks it up, unzipping it and taking a eyeshadow palette out so she can use the small mirror. She sits down on the edge of her bed with the makeup beside her and begins to apply it in a concise and calculated manner. So many of her actions are so carefully calculated. She needs alcohol to help her let go of that.

She finishes off with purple lipstick, complimenting the black wings of her eyeliner. She places the back down on the chest of drawers and walks into her kitchen. 

She doesn’t bother to eat anything for breakfast. She usually skips most meals of the day and then ends up eating just about everything in her apartment. She tries not to think about her weight, it only causes her pain. 

She just makes herself a mug of coffee and downs it before picking up her keys, phone, bag and clear pencil case and walking to the campus only twenty minutes away. 

She meets a frantic looking Erin at their normal spot by the fountain. 

“Are you not even slightly worried?” Erin asks as Jeanine comes to a stop by her.

Jeanine shrugs, zipping and unzipping the pencil case in her hands. She hadn’t bothered to put it in the bag on her shoulder with the rest of her belongings she brought for the day. “Not particularly. I don’t know why you are, you are going to ace it.” 

Erin shakes her head. “I’m so jealous of you.”

“You’re not.” Jeanine whispers. Sometimes she wishes that she wasn’t so smart. This is why she needs to drink, she is thinking far too clearly today.

“You don’t seem hungover today.” Erin comments as they walk to the exam hall. 

Jeanine smiles a little. “No. I just have a headache from stress.” 

Erin pulls her into her side. “I like sober Jeanine.” 

“Do you?” Jeanine asks. Most people would say that they like drunk Jeanine. Sober Jeanine overthinks everything and acts completely robotic. Drunk Jeanine lets go. 

Erin nods. “Uh huh.” She releases her hold on Jeanine and grips onto the bag on her shoulder. “I like to see you for you.” 

Jeanine blushes. “Thank you.”


	3. Chapter 3

Evelyn opens her laptop back up and is absolutely thrilled to see an email from Darren. 

‘Good Evening Evelyn,  
Sorry that I couldn’t give you a reply quicker but I have been asking around. Jeanine works at a bar on Friday and Saturday evenings. I was aware of this but I was not sure of where. I managed to find an old friend of hers from school and she gave me the location. I’ll attach it to this email.   
Have a good night and thank you for doing this.  
Darren.’ 

Evelyn clicks on the link and gets a google maps location pop up. It’s Friday, Jeanine will be working tonight. She lets out a small squeal, thank goodness! 

She looks up the bar and sees that it opens at six. She looks at the clock, it’s half five. She has an hour. She shoots up and begins to flick through the wardrobe. She needs to make sure she isn’t suspicious, she needs to fit in. She’s going to the bar on her own, her best bet is to act like she is looking for love or just a simple hook up. 

She selects a tight pink dress, it isn’t exactly something that she is comfortable in but she will do what needs to be done. She needs this money. He is giving her twenty thousand dollars. She needs it so she can completely restart her life, rid herself of Marcus completely. Buy a new TV herself, not use what Marcus bought her. She will act like she doesn’t have any sort of reservations about this around Darren. She will do what needs to be done.

She gets ready, curling her hair into tight curls and applying red lipstick and bright pink eyeshadow. She puts her wedges on. She doesn’t own heels, it’s not her thing. 

She looks at the clock, half six. Did she really spend that long on her hair and makeup? She puts her coat on and grabs her phone and bag before exiting her room and getting a taxi to the bar. 

She steps out of the taxi and looks at the bar. It isn’t very busy yet but there is still something about it that makes Evelyn extremely anxious. She takes a deep breath before opening the glass paned door and walking in. She looks down at her phone briefly to remind herself of what Jeanine looks like. 

Okay, she is looking for a blonde woman, short hair, round glasses. She shouldn’t be too hard to find. She sits down at the bar, a few seats away from a man who has been staring at her ever since she walked in. She shifts uncomfortably, that’s not what she needs right now.

A woman comes up to her. “Just ignore him.” she says, obviously sensing Evelyn’s discomfort. Evelyn’s head snaps up. Jeanine. Evelyn’s brain briefly malfunctions, the pictures don’t do her justice. Jeanine leans closer so no one but Evelyn can hear her. “Between you and me, he’s a bit of a pervert but he’s quite harmless if you give him no attention.” 

Evelyn forces herself to compose herself, she can’t have Jeanine finding out this early. Especially not now that she has seen just how attractive she is. “Thank you for the tip.” she says. 

“No problem.” Jeanine stands back up straight. “Do you want something to drink?”

Evelyn nods. “Just a glass of red wine please.” 

“Very basic.” Jeanine comments. 

“That’s me.” 

Evelyn watches as Jeanine pours her the drink. She watches so intently that she can see every single movement that Jeanine makes, including the rise and fall of her chest. 

Jeanine slides the wine glass across the counter, their fingers grazing. Jeanine is very good at containing her emotions and hiding her feelings, Evelyn not so much. Her eyes widen when she feels the contact of the blonde’s skin against hers.

“There.” Jeanine says. “Enjoy.” She serves another group of people quickly but they walk off to a table and Jeanine comes back. “Looks like it’s going to be a slow start.” she says.

Evelyn puts down her glass after taking a sip of the maroon liquid. “Is that a good thing?”

Jeanine smiles. “A very good thing.” She pushes her glasses back up her nose. “So, tell me about you. Why are you here?” 

Evelyn shrugs. “I’m just here for a little while and I thought there isn’t much else to do.” She surprises herself with how easily she can lie. 

“You are correct there.” She leans closer. “What’s your name?”

“Evelyn.” She doesn’t have to lie about that. She extends her arms out. “Yours?” 

Jeanine takes her hand and shakes it before allowing it to drop back down. “Jeanine.” 

Evelyn takes a sip of her drink. She swirls the liquid around in the clear glass as she takes every part of Jeanine in. She doesn’t seem too unstable to her. “Any interests?” she asks.

Jeanine hums quietly as she thinks. “I’m a psychology major but I enjoy any science, not only social science.” 

“You must be very bright then.”

Jeanine nods. “I’ve been told that a few times in my days.” She looks Evelyn over. She’s beautiful, yes, but there is something more there. She has a real feeling that goes much beyond a sexual desire, she hasn’t had that in so long. “You?” 

“I enjoy art… It’s a nice escape.”

Jeanine decides not to ask what this stranger could possibly need an escape from. It’s not her place. “It’s good to have an outlet.” 

“Yes.” Evelyn agrees. That seems healthy. Is Jeanine really that bad? 

“Are you single?” Jeanine blurts out. She didn’t mean to ask that. Why did she ask that? She is usually so controlled. She swallows, she can think of an excuse. “I mean you are in a bar alone, looking…” Jeanine briefly loses the ability to talk when she thinks about how amazing Evelyn looks. “Stunning.” she manages to say.

Evelyn blushes a little. “Yes.” She gently taps the edge of her glass. “Yes, I am single.” She takes another sip, studying Jeanine closely. This could be a great opportunity to find something about Jeanine out. “What about you? Are you single?” 

Jeanine nods, absolutely no thought required. She hasn’t been in a relationship in years. “Yes.”

“Are you working in a bar to find love?” Evelyn asks. It’s a stupid question, she knows this.

Jeanine smirks. “Well I wouldn’t say love, but I have certainly found quite a few things from here.” She gives her a risqué wink. 

Evelyn grins. “I believe I know what you are referring to.” 

Jeanine leans closer, close enough for Evelyn to be able to smell her minty breath. “Is that so?” 

“Yes.” Evelyn folds her hands in her lap. She tries to push aside the feelings that are currently filling her brain. She leans closer, matching Jeanine’s flirtatious energy. “These people you find,” Evelyn draws out every word. “Men, women, both?” It’s a risky question, Evelyn knows this, but she can’t stop herself from asking. Not with the current situation she is in. Not with the current tension between them.

“Women.” Jeanine replies simply.

Evelyn arches an eyebrow. “I’m sure they are very lucky.” 

Jeanine laughs, straightening herself back out. “I must be giving a lot of luck out then.” 

Evelyn laughs. “You are funny, I will give you that.” She runs her finger around the rim of her glass. “Get a lot of tips for it?” 

“Occasionally.” Jeanine says. “I will be expecting one from you though.” she quips.

Evelyn picks the glass up and leans back slightly. “Hm.” She pretends to think about it, squinting her eyes. “We will have to see.”

Jeanine spots an old man waiting at the bar. “I’ll be right back.” she says, walking off to serve him. 

Evelyn watches her again. This feels weird but she also can’t stop the feelings that she gets from her clouding her judgement completely. This is her boss’ daughter, and the woman she is meant to be spying on, she shouldn’t be feeling like this. 

It takes Jeanine over fifteen minutes to come back but it is obvious that Evelyn is her favourite customer of the night. 

They talk for hours, Jeanine serving other people in the meantime but her concentration remaining almost purely on Evelyn. Evelyn tips of course.

When Evelyn leaves, she is sure that some sort of connection has been formed. She pushes down the guilty feeling in her stomach and focuses on getting home in her intoxicated state.


	4. Chapter 4

“Of course you got 100%.” Erin mutters, clutching her books to her chest as her and Jeanine walk back to Jeanine’s apartment. “Why can’t I be like that?” 

“Erin, you got 85%,” Jeanine reminds her. “That’s the second best in the class. Stop being so down on yourself all the time.” 

Erin scoffs. “That’s really rich coming from you.” 

Jeanine shrugs. “Maybe.” 

They reach Jeanine’s apartment and Jeanine unlocks the door, opening the door to a clean apartment for the first time in months. It had killed her slowly. The mess was all too much, but she also didn’t have the willpower to do anything about it. OCD and depression, who will win? 

“You cleaned.” Erin points out, placing her books down on the table. “Well done, I’m proud of you.” She is more than aware of how much Jeanine can struggle with certain tasks that she considers such day to day things. She wraps her in a hug, Jeanine turning stiff and then relaxing into her arms slightly. Jeanine awkwardly puts her arms around Erin. Erin pulls away, shaking her head and grinning. “You are so weird.” 

Jeanine nods. “I’m not going to argue with you there..” She knows that Erin doesn’t mean any harm by it, not like the children that used to taunt her at school for being smarter. She should have moved up grades but for some reason she was never allowed so she was stuck being the freakishly smart kid. 

Erin hits her lightly on the arm before slipping her shoes off and sitting down. She leans back, flopping her head down on the back of the sofa. “How have you been?” she asks, turning her head to face Jeanine when Jeanine sits down beside her. “I mean you look well.” 

“I met someone on Friday.” 

“Like met met?”

Jeanine shrugs. “Maybe.” Erin’s face lights up but Jeanine stops her before she can go too far. “I’m not sure if anything will happen so stop right there. But! I actually felt something for someone, a real feeling.” 

“A woman?” Erin asks. Jeanine nods and Erin launches herself at her. “I’m so happy for you!” 

-

“Have you found anything out?” Darren asks Evelyn on the other side of the phone. 

Evelyn thinks for a moment. She remembers the conversation that they had in the bar three nights ago. She might have found something out, it depends what he knows. Then again, if he doesn’t know, it’s not really something that Evelyn should be telling him anyway. It’s not really her place. She tries to think of a way to find out what he knows. “Are you aware of any past relationships that she has had?” 

“Jeanine doesn’t do relationships, she does one night stands.” Darren replies simply. 

That doesn’t really help Evelyn at all. “Do you know who these people are?” 

“Not really, just random women that she meets out I guess.” 

“So you do know then.” Evelyn breaths out. She was getting worried there, the last thing she wants to do is out Jeanine, she feels bad enough about this as it is.

“That she’s gay? Oh definitely yes. Very obvious from a very young age and she told me when she was twelve. Is that all you have found out?”

“Well I might have an idea about where she meets at least a small proportion of the women she sleeps with.” Evelyn says, sitting down on her bed in the hotel.

“Oh really? Where’s that?” That could halep both Darren and Everlyn a lot. They could find people that know her better than they do. 

“The bar she works in. It made me think that maybe I should spend some more time there, watch her and maybe even talk to her.” 

“You have clearly already spoken to her. Please don’t get in too deep and start feeling bad about this and please don’t break her heart.” 

“I know, I won’t.” Evelyn hangs up the phone. 

She grabs her laptop and opens it, loading Netflix and putting on an episode of Friends to try to distract herself. She watches as Susan comes on to the screen, she has always found her interesting. She winces when a poor tasted joke is made to do with her relationship with Carol. She wonders what that means, what the sexual chemistry between her and Jeanine means. 

When the episode finishes, she shakes any of those sorts of questions out of her mind. She doesn’t need to worry about that right now. She is still finding herself after Marcus, she doesn’t need another identity crisis. 

Deciding to treat herself, she grabs her bag and coat and heads out to a restaurant for dinner. She might as well make the most of this trip. She is just about to order drinks when a man and woman catch her eye. Andrew and Natalie Prior. Her breath hitches in her throat. They are friends with Marcus still. 

She shields her face with the menu, praying that they haven’t seen her, but she has no such luck. Natalie gives her a smile and wave before dragging her husband over. Evelyn slowly moves the menu back down towards the table and plasters an extremely fake smile on her face. It’s too late now, she has been caught.

“Evelyn?” Natalie says. 

“Natalie.” Evelyn’s voice is sickly sweet, nowhere near as authentic as Natalie’s. Evelyn supposes that Natalie is somewhat innocent, it’s her husband that is friends with and defends an abuser. “Andrew.” she says through gritted teeth.

“Evelyn.” Andrew nods. “What brings you here?” 

“Work.” Evelyn states simply, not offering any further explanation. 

“What do you work as now? You quit your last job, didn’t you?” Natalie asks. She isn’t wrong, Marcus forced her to quit. 

Evelyn looks back towards her, attempting to block Andrew out. “I work for a scientist.” 

“Anyone we know?” Andrew asks, sparking anger within Evelyn.

“His name is Darren Matthews. You may have heard of him.” 

“Matthews?” Andrew seaks for confirmation that she is in fact talking about his ex-best friend's father. 

Evelyn nods. “Have you heard of him?” 

“Oh yes.” 

As if a gift from heaven, Jeanine walks in with Erin before the conversation can go any further. Under normal circumstances, she would have never called Jeanine over - especially since she is meant to not be getting too involved with her. Under these circumstances, she will do anything to get the two Priors away from her. “Jeanine!” she exclaims, waving at her with an expression plastered across face that should signify her need for help.

Erin notices and taps Jeanine on the shoulder. “Do you know her?” she asks, pointing at the woman at a booth on the other side of the restaurant.

Jeanine looks closely, squinting slightly. “She came into the bar on Friday. She’s a nice woman.” 

“Well it looks like this nice woman desperately needs our help.” Erin says, pulling Jeanine’s arm gently and guiding her over to the three.

“Hello Evelyn.” Jeanine says, pretending as though she has known her for years and they are best friends. 

“Hi Jeanine.” Evelyn follows suit.

Jeanine is just about to introduce Erin when she realises who Evelyn needed saving from. Her mouth falls open and she stares at him.

“Hello Jeanine.” Andrew smirks slightly. He looks at Erin. “Girlfriend?” he asks.

“Just a best friend who will kick your face in if you try anything Prior.” Erin shoots at him. 

“Got your own bodyguard now?” he continues to taunt her.

Jeanine closes her mouth and shakes her head, she forces herself back into reality and manages to formulate at least half off a sentence. “What brings you…” The rest of the words fail her.

“Here?” Andrew’s face is so smug that Jeanine really wants to punch it. She probably would if she was drunk. “We are just visiting.” 

“Lovely to see you again Jeanine.” Natalie extends her arm out to shake and Jeanine takes it briefly. 

Evelyn stares in shock, this is not what she was expecting to happen. “I’m sorry, you know each other?” 

“Oh yes, we went to school together. Didn’t we Jeannie?” 

Jeanine swallows, stopping herself from lashing out at him. “Yes, yes that’s true.” 

Marcus went to the same school as Andrew… Jeanine went to school with Marcus? The world feels far too small for Evelyn’s liking right now. 

“Anyway,” Erin sits down opposite Evelyn. “You should get going to your own table Andrew. We are all simply famished.”

Andrew engages in a small staring competition with Jeanine before Natalie drags him off to their own table. 

“Thank you for that.” Evelyn says to the two women, feeling slightly guilty for not giving Jeanine the chance to avoid a clearly extremely awkward encounter.

“No problem.” Erin gives her a wide smile. She turns to Jeanine who is still standing in some sort of shock. “Are you going to introduce me?” she asks.

That snaps Jeanine out of her Andrew induced haze. “Oh, yes. Sorry.” She sits down beside Erin. “This is Evelyn. Evelyn, this is Erin.”

“Pleasure to meet you Erin.” Evelyn says. “You both really just saved me but what was all of that about? You know Andrew?” 

“We used to be very close.” Jeanine mutters, not willing to expand any further. 

“Oh.” 

“How do you know him?” Erin asks Evelyn.

“He is my ex’s best friend.” Evelyn replies.

“Wait!” Jeanine exclaims. She was not expecting this at all. “Your ex is Marcus Eaton?” 

Evelyn tenses up slightly at his name. She wishes that he didn’t have any power over her but it’s still so hard. “Yes.” 

“Fuck me,” Jeanine shakes her head. “I’m sorry. He’s a monster.” 

“You weren’t friends with him?” Evelyn had assumed that since Jeanine was friends with Andrew, she must have been friends with Marcus. But, then again, she doesn’t really seem like the type. 

“God no!” Jeanine scoffs a little at the pure concept of her and Marcus Eaton being friends. “He bullied me and Andrew still stayed by him and was his friend, that’s one of the reasons we stopped being friends.” 

One of the reasons? Evelyn decides not to press. It’s private and Jeanine has already done her such a big favour. Guilt overcomes her again but she forces it down. 

“Do you want us to stay with you? Erin offers. 

“Yeah, that would be lovely.” 

They got talking, Erin spilling wine everywhere in laughter at one point and the three of them hitting it off greatly. Evelyn still finds nothing too scandalous. Nothing really to report.


	5. Chapter 5

“Anything new?” Darren asks.

“Nothing much. I met her friend, Erin. She seems nice, they act like they are together but they say they aren’t.” Evelyn recalls the events of the night before. Jeanine is naturally flirtatious, that’s obvious to anyone, so the energy that she directed towards Erin makes perfect sense. It’s Erin that makes her wonder. She looked at Jeanine in a way that doesn’t really scream platonic. 

“Oh yes, I have met Erin.” Jeanine refuses to meet her dad alone, Erin always has to be there. “She’s lovely. I think she is the only person stopping Jeanine from going completely off the rails.” Darren says. Evelyn nods, she can see that. “Anything else?” 

“Oh yes!” Evelyn suddenly remembers the end of the night. “She gave me her number so maybe I will try and get in touch again soon.” 

“Sounds good.” Darren thinks for a second. Jeanine isn’t usually this friendly and welcoming. “She has taken quite the shining to you.” he says. “Be careful.” 

-

“It’s her, isn't it?” Erin falls down next to Jeanine on her sofa. She offers Jeanine a crisp out of the packet in her hands but Jeanine shakes her head. “She’s the one you like.” 

“Who?” Jeanine asks, picking at a piece of fluff on her cardigan. 

“You know who I mean.” Erin watches as Jeanine continues to remain silent. “Fine,” She rolls her eyes. “Evelyn.” Jeanine still says nothing. “Oh please do not try to deny it. I saw the way you looked at her last night, that wasn’t lust, that was love.” 

“I barely know the girl.” Jeanine folds her arms over her chest and continues to look ahead, refusing to look at Erin.

“Mhm.” She sighs and shifts closer to Jeanine. “It’s okay to like people, Jeanine.” 

“I never said it wasn’t.” 

“You don’t have to say it.” 

Jeanine puts her hand out and takes a crisp out of Erin’s packet. “Love is overrated anyway.” she mutters.

Erin rolls her eyes and decides not to say anything more on the topic. “I need a favour from you.” she changes the subject.

“Yeah?” Jeanine looks at her in question. “What’s that?” 

“I sort of… Well…. I need to prove a point to this boy in our class and I need you to help me.” 

Jeanine looks at Erin’s weird behaviour. “What’s the point?” Erin remains quiet, shifting uncomfortable. “Erin, what’s the point?” she asks harder this time.

“You know TikTok?” Erin starts. Jeanine nods. “What side of TikTok are you on?” 

Jeanine looks her straight in the face. “What do you think?” 

“Okay, fine, fair point.” Erin shifts again. “So you have seen that like thing where you have to eat a long sweet thing with just your tongue.” 

Jeanine bursts out laughing. “No!” She wheezes. “No! Erin! You didn’t!” 

Erin turns bright red and buries her face in her hands, nodding. “Yes, yes I did.” 

Jeanine shakes her head, unable to stop laughing. “You really need to stop getting yourself in these kinds of situations.” 

“I know!” Erin exclaims, finally looking at her again. “I really know! But now he is determined to do it and I will probably lose!” 

“What makes you say that?” 

“I tried earlier. I was awful.” 

“You want me to do it, don’t you?” Jeanine says.

“Well we all know that you are far more experienced than me anyway! I haven’t been with anyone in over a year!” 

“Fine.” Jeanine shakes her head. “I’ll do it.” 

Erin smiles and launches herself at her. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

-

Evelyn taps the back of her phone with her fingers. Her thumb hovering over the call button on Jeanine’s contact. Does she want to do this? Everytime that she sees her, she feels guilty about what she is doing. Without even thinking, she presses down on the button and hears the phone begin to ring.

Jeanine picks up quickly and Evelyn can hear a ruckus of laughter behind her. “Evelyn,” Jeanine walks over to the other end of the room and leans against the wall. “I didn’t expect to hear from you so quickly.” 

“Should I have waited longer? Is this a bad time?” Evelyn asks, panicked. Although she isn’t panicked about the job, she is panicked about something much more. Somehow, Jeanine’s opinion has become the only one that she cares about. 

“No,” Jeanine shakes her head, biting her lip. “I am glad. I like hearing your voice.” 

Evelyn feels her face flush and she all of a sudden feels incredibly hot. “Well,” Evelyn swallows, cringing at how her voice sounds. “You have a very nice voice too.” She wants to slap herself.

Jeanine laughs, turning away from her view of the crowd of young adults and staring out of the window. “It’s a lovely day.” Jeanine comments. “Would you care to meet me?” 

Evelyn hates how excited those words make her. It’s pathetic, completely and utterly pathetic. Oh well, so what if she is pathetic? “Yes.” Evelyn is incredibly glad that Jeanine can’t see the smile on her face. “Yes, that would be great. Where should I meet you?” 

“I’ll send you a location.” Jeanine says, she reaches into her bag and pulls out earphones to connect her phone to. She plugs them in and pulls her phone away from her ear so that she can text Evelyn. “Sent.” She stares out of the window again. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay.” Evelyn says pathetically before Jeanine can hang up the phone. She hears the end tone and falls back on her bed, excited and embarrassed. She looks at the location that Jeanine sent her and opens it in maps. It’s a small park. 

-

Evelyn rushes into the park, almost falling over. Her eyes dart around in a desperate attempt to find Jeanine. She spent so long touching up her make up and now she is late. Jeanine notices the frantic woman and waves at her from a bench.

Evelyn walks over nervously, tripping on the way and going bright red. She sits down next to Jeanine and tries to smile at her to hide just how mortified she is.

Jeanine gives her a kind smile and hands her a bottle of water. “Hydration is important.” she says.

Evelyn nods, taking the bottle. “That is very true.” she agrees. She goes to unscrew the bottle lid but then realises that she is going to struggle with even that today. She keeps trying until her hands are on the verge of bleeding. 

“Want help?” Jeanine asks, extending her arm out for Evelyn to pass her the bottle.

“Yes please.” Evelyn says shyly, handing over the bottle. This is humiliating.

Jeanine unscrews it with ease and passes it back to her, making Evelyn feel even worse. Why is she messing this up so bad?

“How is your day going?” Jeanine mercifully strikes up a conversation so that they can move on from Evelyn’s embarrassment. Although, Jeanine can’t help but find it slightly cute. It’s almost endearing.

“Clearly not very well.” Evelyn jokes, breaking the ice. “What about yours?” she asks.

“I just won a tonguing contest.” Jeanine acts completely serious as she watches Evelyn’s eyes turn wide and her mouth drop open. 

“Good for you…?” Evelyn has absolutely no idea what to say to that.

Jeanine finally breaks character and softens. “It’s nowhere near as bad as you think.” 

Evelyn nods, taking a drink of water in an attempt to push down the weird feeling growing in her. “I wasn’t thinking anything.” 

“Yes you were.” Jeanine smiles. “It’s just that thing from TikTok.”

“Oh!” Evelyn exclaims, the realisation hitting her. “Oh that makes so much more sense now.” 

“I won against five boys so I think that earns me some sort of medal in all honesty.” Jeanine jokes.

There’s that feeling again. More water. Push it down, Evelyn. “That’s certainly impressive. Although, from my experience, I’m hardly surprised.” 

Jeanine laughs and this time it is a proper laugh that Evelyn wishes that she could hear over and over again. All these feelings, all these sentimental feelings, can’t be good. She can’t be getting attached. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Evelyn blurts out, immediately regretting it.

“Sure.” 

Why did she say that? If she thinks quickly enough, she can make something up. No. She just has to ask now. What harm can it really do? “Are you close with your family?”

“Well that’s a slightly odd question.” Jeanine says. 

“Sorry, you don’t have to answer me.” Evelyn suddenly remembers Jeanine’s dead mother and feels a thousand times worse.

“No, no, it’s okay. I don’t mind.” Jeanine repositions herself on the bench to get out of the sun, it’s beginning to hurt her eyes. “My mother died when I was nine and my father is still alive. He calls a lot and tries to see me a lot but I don’t know…” Jeanine trails off.

“I’m so sorry about your mother.” Evelyn says sympathetically. “That must have been really hard for you and your father.” 

“Yeah.” Jeanine nods. “Yeah, it was… But…” Jeanine shakes her head. She shouldn’t be saying this. Can she trust Evelyn? “Dad always acts like that’s where everything went wrong. He always acts like that’s where all my problems came from.”

“And that isn’t true?” This is perfect information for Evelyn to tell Darren but she can’t help but see Jeanine as a friend, maybe even more than a friend, than anything like that right now. 

Jeanine shakes her head again and sighs. “I had issues long before then.” 

Evelyn nods slowly. “Parents can be blind to what is really going on with their children sometimes.”

“I guess.” Jeanine winces as she feels the bright, summer sun hurt her eyes again. She reaches into her bag and exchanges her normal glasses for her sun glasses. Evelyn already wears sunglasses. They are fashionable, unlike Jeanine’s. It’s pretty hard to get prescription sunglasses that actually look good. Jeanine’s are just the same as her everyday ones but with tinted lenses.

“Do you want to change the subject?” Evelyn offers. 

“Yes please.” Jeanine can actually see properly again now. 

“Okay,” Evelyn places her hands together in her lap. “How is Erin?” 

“She’s fine, she is the one that made me do that competition.” Jeanine smirks.

“Oh!” Evelyn looks down at her hands. “I see.” 

“Tell me something,” Jeanine glances from Evelyn’s hands to her face that she is hiding from view. “Why do you think that you called me today?” 

Evelyn’s brain fails. She can’t tell her that it’s because she is meant to be spying on her. That’s not even the reason that she called her. She doesn’t really know why, other than the fact that she seems to be so attracted to Jeanine. She is like a magnet. “I don’t know.” she admits candidly.

“Hmm.” Jeanine studies her closely. “When you do find out, you will tell me. Won’t you?” 

Evelyn nods. “Yes.” 

“Good.”

The two talk for two hours more about anything and everything. It’s small talk, something that Jeanine isn’t great at, but it’s so oddly enjoyable. Evelyn learns a lot about Jeanine but still not really anything that it’s worth telling Darren about. 

When the time comes to leave, Jeanine places a small kiss on the side of Evelyn’s cheek before walking away. Evelyn is left absolutely stunned. The feeling comes again and she downs the remaining contents of the bottle.


End file.
